


Valentine Buzz

by The_Eclectic_Bookworm



Series: the braveryverse [6]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, i can do what i want, yes it is a valentine's day fic in mid-may
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 22:10:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18821749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Eclectic_Bookworm/pseuds/The_Eclectic_Bookworm
Summary: “See her, Jenny? Learn from Willow’s example. That is how you behave properly and maturely on Valentine’s Day.”“You and your holiday obsessions,” said Jenny, leaning in to kiss Rupert.(In which absolutelyeveryonegets the happy Valentine's Day they deserve.)





	Valentine Buzz

Valentine’s Day started out like most other days did. Jenny woke up rested and refreshed (haranguing Rupert into going to sleep at a respectable hour _did_ have the advantage of meaning she had to go to sleep too) and headed down to have breakfast with the kids, at which point she was met with one of Rupert’s adorably festive holiday breakfasts. Christmas had been gingerbread men, New Year’s had seen the dining room table covered in confetti, and Valentine’s Day, of course, was—

“Heart-shaped pancakes,” Faith observed through a mouthful of butter and syrup. “Classic.”

“Swallow, dear,” said Rupert, passing Faith a napkin, “you’re going to get syrup _all_ over your face, and I doubt Buffy will find that appetizing.”

“ _Fuck_ you!” said Faith, but in the laughing, delighted way she always did whenever someone teased her about Buffy. She did wipe awkwardly at her face, dodging Willow’s playful attempts to help her.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, darling,” Rupert murmured as Jenny sat down next to him, brushing a kiss against her cheek.

“Not to get sappy,” said Jenny softly, reaching up to straighten his glasses, “but I am _really_ glad we’re finally getting a good one of these together.”

“Hey, Giles, Jenny got syrup on your glasses!” said Xander loudly. Faith burst out laughing.

Jenny and Rupert exchanged the wryly amused look that had been happening a lot lately. The one and only sometimes-frustrating part of becoming accidental sort-of-parents to three teenagers was that it kind of made intimate, romantic moments all but impossible. But Jenny _loved_ those three teenagers, and so did Rupert; it was kind of hard to be resentful about being reminded that the kids were all finally in good hands.

“There’s no syrup on my—” Rupert touched the side of his glasses, then gave Jenny a wounded, betrayed look. “And on _Valentine’s Day,”_ he said.

Jenny dipped her thumb into the syrup on her plate, then bopped Rupert on the nose. He yelped.

“Not to interrupt, guys, but we _do_ have school today,” said Willow, pointed but still gentle.

“Look at that,” said Rupert, pointing to Willow. “See her, Jenny? Learn from _Willow’s_ example. _That_ is how you behave properly and maturely on Valentine’s Day.”

“You and your holiday obsessions,” said Jenny, leaning in to kiss Rupert. They _did_ get a little syrupy, but she decided it was worth the extra five minutes to wash her face after breakfast.

* * *

 

Buffy met them at the front of the school, pink-faced and shy. Faith grinned, weaving around Xander to tug her, uh, _makeout buddy_ into a hello kiss. “Hey, b,” she said, and though she knew no one else could tell the difference between _B-for-Buffy_ and  _b-for-babe,_ she still wasn’t over the fact that _Buffy_ could. “How’s V-day treating you?”

“Totally an improvement on last year,” said Buffy.

“Why does everyone keep _saying_ that?” said Faith.

For some reason, everyone looked over at Xander. “Uh,” said Xander. “I, uh, _may_ have made a few rash, irrational, magical decisions that led to the entire female population of Sunnydale lusting after me.”

“Also Rupert wasn’t speaking to me,” said Jen helpfully.

“ _And_ Angelus was sending me ominous roses,” Buffy added.

Faith took this in. Then she said, “Shit, sounds like _anything_ would be an improvement on _last_ year.”

“Now you’re getting it,” said Jen. “Should we go in?”

“Oh, um—” said Giles, and sent a clear _help-me_ look in Buffy’s direction.

“Hey, Faith, I have a gift for you!” said Buffy very loudly.

As this caught the group’s attention, Faith caught Giles slip quietly into the crowd, heading towards the school on his lonesome. But a potential gift from her potential girlfriend seemed way more interesting than whatever Giles had planned (probably books), so Faith turned expectantly to Buffy. “Gift?”

Buffy dug in her pocket, then fished something out, looking a little nervous. “It’s kinda cheesy,” she said, holding up the charm bracelet, “and I know it’s not really your _thing,_ but it has—you know, a little milkshake, a little pointy thing—I think it’s supposed to be lipstick, but we can pretend it’s a stake? Lipstick works too, though, ‘cause you wear that really pretty, smudgy shade—”

Shit. Faith couldn’t even _look_ at Buffy, she liked her so much.

“You don’t like it?” said Buffy timidly.

“Uh, give me a se—give me a second,” said Faith, “just—y’know, trying not to start fuckin’ bawling about this. Gotta have some dignity.” She closed her eyes, stretching out her hand, and felt Buffy intertwine their fingers in that way that was starting to feel so goddamn _natural._ “It's _really_ nice, Buffy,” she murmured. “Makes my present to you look like _shit.”_

“Shut  _up,”_ said Buffy, audibly delighted. “You got me something?”

Faith opened her eyes, saw the bracelet, and felt glad she’d taken those extra few seconds to calm herself down—it was _adorable._ Definitely not her style, but the idea of wearing something from Buffy’s felt—she’d read a whole bunch of Giles’s old books, and one of them had had some shit about knights taking tokens from their ladies into battles. Buffy’s charm bracelet felt like that. “No kidding,” she said, holding out her free hand. “Put it on me first.”

“Hold up,” said Jen suddenly. “Where’s Rupert?”

“Give me a sec, Ms. Calendar,” said Buffy, winding and clasping the bracelet around Faith’s wrist. “Giles _really_ wanted some extra time to set up the lab.”

“Set up the—” Jen took off. Over her shoulder, she called, “I’ll tell him you did your best, Buffy!”

“Thanks!” Buffy called back, then turned to Faith. “So. Present?”

“Oh,  _I_ know what this is,” said Xander loudly, grinning.

Willow elbowed him. _“Shh!”_

Faith set her backpack down on the sidewalk, rummaging in it until she found the large paper bag of candy hearts. Handing it over to Buffy, she said, “It’s kinda dumb, but, uh, you’re the first person I’ve ever wanted to give shit to on Valentine’s Day. And I really wanted to go cliché, ‘cause I’ve never _wanted_ to do that before. With anybody.” She scuffed her shoes against the concrete, then looked up again, hoping she wasn’t blushing. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Buf—mmm!”

“ _Whoa,”_ said Xander in the background. “That looked _painful._ Full-on tackle-kissing Faith to the concrete?”

“They’ve got Slayer strength,” said Willow wisely. “Let’s give them some space.”

Buffy pulled back, cheeks pink, half in Faith’s lap, then kissed Faith again, this one less tackle-y and more…sweet. “You’re totally a stereotype,” she said. “Soft jock with a heart of gold?”

“Flexible cheerleader who knows how to kiss?” Faith shot back, and grinned when Buffy started giggling. She pressed the bag into Buffy’s hands. “These _are_ yours.”

“I love them,” said Buffy, sincerity in every word.

* * *

 

Jenny felt like she had some pretty legitimate reason to panic about Rupert setting up some romantic Valentine’s Day surprise in the computer lab. She loved the man—he was literally the only person she had ever even _considered_ marrying—but Rupert plus computers was a _recipe_ for disaster, and she felt fairly certain that he could cause enough damage to impede lab functionality for at _least_ a month.

The lab door was ajar. Warily, Jenny stepped inside—and forgot how to breathe.

Every single inch of the computer lab was covered in flowers. Lilies, orchids, daisies, carnations—it was like stepping into a garden. Her desk had a _double-tiered cake_ on it with _Janna Calendar-Giles_ written in big, looping cursive across the top, and oh, oh, oh my god—

“Oh, Jenny _darling!”_ said Rupert, sounding horrified, and scooped her up into his arms as she burst into tears. “I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t mean to presume, I just—”

Jenny was going to have to stop crying at _some_ point, because otherwise Rupert was going to think she didn’t like it. But she really couldn’t, so she decided to go for the next best thing, which was to grab him by the lapels and pull him in for a fierce kiss.

Rupert stumbled, knocked over a floral arrangement, and kissed her back, pulling back to rub his nose against hers. His eyes were shining. “You like it?” he said shyly.

Jenny was probably still crying too hard to talk. She waved a hand, pressed it to her mouth, sort of made a few incoherent, flailing gestures, gave up, and kissed Rupert again.

Rupert pulled back. “I, I just, I wanted to make up for last year,” he said earnestly. “Because we never did have that first Valentine’s Day, and I was _terrible_ to you. And I thought—she deserves a room full of flowers after a Valentine’s Day like that, and a cake, and an extremely nice new jacket—”

“ _Janna,”_ Jenny finally managed.

Rupert blinked. “I’m sorry?”

Jenny sniffled. “God,” she said. “I—” She gave him a smile that she _knew_ was probably _sickeningly_ adoring, but hey, it was pretty much _exactly_ how she felt. “I spent—all of last year,” she said, “thinking _he loves Jenny, but there is no goddamn way he will ever love Janna just as much._ And you love Janna enough to put her _name_ on a _cake.”_

“I love _you,”_ said Rupert, his voice softening. “Every part of you, Jenny.” He kissed her. “Janna.”

Jenny reached up, stroking his cheek with her thumb. “You’re the only one who gets to call me that,” she whispered. “Just you.” And even though they weren’t married _yet,_ now felt like the _perfect_ time to try saying it out loud. “My husband.”

Rupert blinked, then stared at her with big, starry eyes. “My wife,” he murmured, kissing her again.

“Did we miss a marriage?” said Buffy.

“Does that cake say _Calendar-Giles?”_ said Xander.

“Oh my god, we _did_ miss a wedding ceremony!” Willow wailed. “And in the _computer lab!_ Giles, that’s so romantic it isn’t even _fair—”_

“This is just Valentine’s Day,” said Rupert, sounding genuinely puzzled. “Oh—Buffy, might you pass me that bouquet?”

“Which  _one?”_ said Buffy.

Rupert sighed, let go of Jenny, and crossed over to one of the desks, picking up a large bundle of mostly-blue flowers that Jenny didn’t see in  _any_ of the other arrangements around the classroom. This bouquet, she realized, was just for  _her_. “Holly and forget-me-nots,” Rupert said shyly. “For domestic bliss and ever-faithful love.”

“Rupert,” said Jenny unsteadily, “you do realize that you’ve set the bar _ridiculously_ high for literally every Valentine’s Day after this?”

“Oh, that was my intention,” said Rupert seriously, and handed the bouquet to Jenny. She took it, biting her lip to grin up at him. “I love you so very much, Jenny,” he said softly. “You changed my life for the better. I am so, so lucky to know you.”

“ _Awww,”_ sang Buffy and Xander.

“You two are _ruining_ the moment!” said Faith loudly. Willow started giggling.

“Yep,” said Jenny, grinning. “That’s it. Moment’s dead.” She stood on tiptoe, kissing Rupert. Quietly, and making sure that the kids couldn’t hear, she murmured, “You know, this _really_ makes that lingerie I bought myself as your present for tonight seem…I don’t know. A pretty flimsy present? On a _lot_ of levels, I guess—”

“I’m  _sorry?”_ said Rupert, going scarlet.

Jenny grinned, tugging him in for another kiss.

* * *

 

Xander slipped away in the middle of the love-fest, nerves thrumming in his chest. Seeing everyone landing the perfect unexpected gift—Giles and his flowers, Buffy and her bracelet—was making him feel nervous that his own little gift for Cordy might not go over quite as well. She hadn’t reached her locker yet, so he tried to recline suavely against it, and ended up losing his balance and all but toppling into Harmony Kendall.

“ _Watch_ it, dorkus!” she snapped. “This top costs more than your _house!”_

“Leave him alone, Harm, his house is _way_ less boring than yours,” Cordelia shot back, somehow managing to simultaneously dust off Xander and flip off a retreating Harmony. “You okay, honey?”

Xander grinned. “Honey,” he said. “I should get knocked around more often, huh?”

“If Harmony Kendall’s knocking you down, I am _seriously_ telling Giles and Ms. Calendar to keep you home from patrol,” said Cordelia reprovingly, winding her arms around his waist and gently backing him into the nearby lockers. Her face softened. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Xander.”

“Yeah, uh,” Xander cleared his throat, “about that—”

“Oh, it’s okay, you didn’t have to get me anything,” Cordelia began, pulling away and looking unusually vulnerable. “I know you’ve got a lot of stuff going on, it’s fine if you forgot—”

“Cordy,” said Xander. “ _Cordy!”_ He caught her hands, giving her his best and most reassuring smile. “I guess I’m just worried this gift might be…kind of a lot?”

This was definitely the right thing to say. That beautiful, heart-stopping Cordelia Chase smile emerged at full power. “Keep going,” she said.

Xander let go of her hands, pulling the tickets to Paris out of his pocket.

Cordelia’s smile froze.

“So I, I know you mentioned your family was having money troubles,” said Xander, “and I knew you were gonna be pissed at me, but I poked around. And I found out what’s really going on. And Cordy, I—” He swallowed. “You’ve always wanted to get out of this town,” he said. “You got into all the colleges, you did everything right, it _sucks_ that your dad’s the reason you’re not going to be able to pull together scholarship money in time. So I threw together some savings, and I talked about it a lot with Giles and Jenny, and they said it was a hundred percent my call. I’m gonna take a gap year and figure out my life. And I thought, hey, why not do that with the girl I’m crazy about?”

Cordelia stared at him. “Xander, you got into _college,”_ she said in a small, wobbly voice. “Don’t throw that away over me.”

“Yeah, but college wasn’t what I wanted to _do,_ ” Xander persisted. “I wanna do _you,_ Cordelia.” He blinked, then winced. “Wow. Okay. That sounded like ten times more romantic in my head. But you’re getting what I’m trying to say, right? I-I’m not study guy. I’m better with odds and ends than I ever was in class. Bouncing around the world with you sounds…scary, but fun.”

Cordelia sniffled, smiling. “It’s—it is kind of a lot,” she said. “It’s more than a lot. Like, I’ll be honest, when you said _a lot,_ I was thinking _he got me a cute new car._ But this is _way_ bigger than that.” She reached out, bracing her hands against his chest. “We’re gonna be seeing each other _all the time._ What if we annoy each other to death?”

“Counterpoint,” said Xander. “What if we don’t?”

And there was that shy, smitten Cordelia-smile that Xander _really_ liked, because it meant he had done something that made Cordelia feel the same kind of warmth he did around her. “Okay,” she said.

“Wait,” said Xander. “Seriously?”

“Oh my god, Xander, you _really_ think I was gonna just let you go off to _Paris_ by  _yourself?”_ scoffed Cordelia. “As _if!_ You are _so_ gonna have to buy me something designer and adorable, only you’re going to have to let _me_ pick it out because _your_ taste is horrible—like, _hello,_ those shirts?” She was grinning again, big and smitten, and Xander was grinning back.

“You like my shirts,” he said.

“Well, I _love_ you!” said Cordelia. “There is  _no_ accounting for taste in this equation!” She draped her arms around his neck, giving him a big, happy kiss. Pulling back, she announced to the hallway at the top of her lungs, “MY BOYFRIEND’S TAKING ME TO PARIS!”

“Uh, Cordy?” said Xander, who had been close enough to get the brunt of her volume. “Ouch?”

“You’re taking me to _Paris,”_ said Cordelia blissfully, snuggling back into his arms.

Xander grinned, kissing the top of Cordelia’s head. Not that bad a gift after all.

* * *

 

It was _super_ nice to see everybody happy. It really was. Jenny was alternating between beaming soppily at her engagement ring and burying her face in the bouquet of flowers she _still_ hadn’t put down, Buffy was reading literally every candy heart before she ate it, Faith was telling every single person she could about the meaning of each different charm on her bracelet, Xander and Cordelia were _all_ snuggly, and Giles…was still a really strange shade of pink around his ears, which made Willow pretty resolutely sure that she did _not_ want to know what Jenny had whispered to him in the computer lab.

But the thing was, Willow had really been looking forward to spending Valentine’s Day with Oz. Coming out had been important and _really_ nice, but that didn’t change the fact that Oz _had_ meant something to her in a different way than most other people. He’d been the first person in her life who had noticed her out of the crowd instead of stumbling over her in the hallways. She’d never had to wonder whether he would have liked her if they hadn’t bumped into each other, because he’d just _always_ liked her. And her self-esteem _was_ getting better, it really was, but—

Okay. Willow-babble, even in her head, never led to a good place. The point was that she and Oz weren’t a couple anymore, but she still wanted to spend Valentine’s Day with him like they’d planned, and she felt like asking him might make him feel bad that she didn’t want to date him. Like, rubbing it in his face, all _hello, I’m your new gay best friend Willow who you can’t smooch!_ And it made it _really_ hard to feel good about Valentine’s Day when that was going down.

She ducked out in the middle of lunch, feeling a little like quietly moping. She could talk to Buffy about it tomorrow, but right now she didn’t want to ruin anybody’s happy Valentine buzz by being…well. A buzzkill.

“Willow?”

Willow looked up. “Oz!” she squeaked.

“You look kinda sad,” Oz observed gently, leaning against the wall next to her and taking her hand. “You okay?”

And for some reason, that was all it took. Because she was super gay, and Oz _knew_ she wasn’t going to smooch him any time soon, but he _still_ liked her enough to hold her hand, so—

“Are we still on for watching movies?” Willow asked timidly. “I know we’re not dating, but Oz, you’re still kind of one of the most important people in my life.”

“Ditto,” said Oz, and squeezed her hand, face softening. “Did you think I wouldn’t want to spend Valentine’s Day with one of my best friends?”

Willow sniffled. “Maybe?”

“Look, I know this is weird,” said Oz gently, “but I meant what I said. I like _you,_ Willow. If you just want to be friends, we’re just friends. There’s no hard feelings, no weirdness, no _anything._ ”

“Promise?”

“I’ll pinky swear if it makes you feel better,” Oz agreed, holding up his free hand. Willow gave him a wobbly, happy smile, linking her pinky with his. “Pinky swear,” he said, “that we are _just_ friends. Now what movie do you want to watch?”

Willow tackled him in a hug.

* * *

 

“Good Valentine’s Day?” said Jenny.

“Oh, absolutely the best,” said Rupert. “Though I believe I should attribute some of that to the lingerie.”

“Like that holds a candleto filling my _entire classroom_ with flowers—”

“It’s appropriate, I think,” said Rupert, smiling softly up at her. “Your company, your presence in my life—that’s _more_ than enough of a gift for me.”

“ _Raise your standards,”_ said Jenny, which made him laugh. She giggled too, pulling him closer so that his head was pillowed on her stomach. Running a hand through his hair, she added casually, “So Cordy and Xander are jetting off to Paris for a year right after graduation.”

“I’m aware,” Rupert agreed.

“And we _did_ agree we wanted them to be able to attend the wedding.”

“Yes,” said Rupert, now sounding justifiably curious.

God, Jenny was enjoying the build-up. “And we were _going_ to get married in the summer so that all the kids could be there before college, but if Xander and Cordelia aren’t going to _be_ here over the summer—”

“Jenny,” said Rupert, eyes wide, tilting his head up to look at her. “Jenny, are you saying—”

“England,” said Jenny, “I think we should move up our wedding date.”

**Author's Note:**

> told y'all this 'verse wasn't finished!!! there are LOTS of different plans for lots of different scoobies, and i'm EXTRA excited about entering this new realm of possibilities!!
> 
> (also, i don't know when the g/j wedding fic is coming, but that is DEFINITELY what's coming next. so stay tuned.)


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